


Church Bells

by Simply_Heaven



Category: Devilman (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Blood and Gore, Demonic Possession, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Intersex Ryo, M/M, Mentions of Pedophilia, Original Character Death(s), Religious Content, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, if you're able to get through the devilman series you can prooooobably get through this, it's not explicit or relevant to the plot, so I didn't add it to the archive warnings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-26 01:48:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13847520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Simply_Heaven/pseuds/Simply_Heaven
Summary: Eight years of school with eight years of religious classes. Communion. Confirmation. GED. Four years of university with four years of missionary work. Bachelor’s in education with a concentration in theology. Masters in theology and human resources. PhD in theology. South Africa, Cuba, Ghana, Peru. Papers published in his name. Six months of self-doubt followed by a mental breakdown. Six months of blaming God and learning how to shoot a gun. One month of research and one month of preparation. Then he was here. Funny how he made it full-circle.Ryo becomes a Sister to uncover a string of murders among the parish and the dark secrets hidden by St. Edith's Church. He also helps Akira handle his demonic possession in exchange for booze.





	Church Bells

**Author's Note:**

> Please read the tags!
> 
> Henlo new fandom. *sticks m leggy out real far* It's amazing what kind of ideas you get when taking a shower.  
> This one was partially inspired by this beautiful piece of art: http://yaboybokuto.tumblr.com/post/170192922618/meme-pls-i-beg-of-u-go-tf-to-sleep-its-3-am-and  
> My understanding of how Churches work is limited to the CCD classes I took like 5 years ago and about 1 hour of research so I don't promise any accuracy.
> 
> There's just a lot of triggering content in here and I tried tagging all of it but it's really not for the faint hearted, so please be careful and enjoy!

Ryo stared up at the church bells perched atop the cathedral’s sloped roof as the cry of a hawk sliced through the gray end-of-winter air behind an imposing cross.

 

Eight years of school with eight years of religious classes. Communion. Confirmation. GED. Four years of university with four years of missionary work. Bachelor’s in education with a concentration in theology. Masters in theology and human resources. PhD in theology. South Africa, Cuba, Ghana, Peru. Papers published in his name. Six months of self-doubt followed by a mental breakdown. Six months of blaming God and learning how to shoot a gun. One month of research and one month of preparation. Then he was here. Funny how he made it full-circle.

 

When Ryo had first arrived at the Church of St. Edith, he had a long list of credentials that helped him bypass much of the waiting time as his vocational director quickly ran him through the pre-candidacy process. Ryo became a part of the novitiate, which was the absolute worst part because he was forbidden from taking his temporary vows before the one year period.

 

This year should have been spent learning the ropes of the clergy and other Church matters. However, most of it had been spent under scrutiny by Father Anthony and Mother Ines. Ryo had carefully dropped that he “physically did not fit into the men’s group or women’s group by virtue of my sex,” which threw the Church into a spiral. Mother Ines had taken the hands-off route and claimed that Ryo had been given the opportunity by God to choose his direction as He saw fit, and it was up to Ryo to pray and wait for an answer, whether Ryo was to be a Priest or a Nun. Despite the fact that he had always used male pronouns to his advantage when he had his work published in academia, Ryo supposed that he was flexible when others perceived him.

 

Father Anthony had different plans. He was going to order Ryo to choose the path of Priesthood, claiming that his penis posed a threat to the Sisters’ virtue. Then he was going to say that eunuchs had no place in Church. He had Ryo come to the back of the confessional where Ryo stripped himself of his cassock and allowed the Father to gaze hungrily at his swollen breasts. Ryo let his head fall back and moaned as Father Anthony took one in each hand, massaging and prodding the sensitive flesh with expert care. If this was all Ryo had to do to get what he wanted, then he didn’t care, even when he pinched his hardened nipple and rolled it between his fingers. This was nothing compared to all of the innocent Sisters and all of the desperate Christian wives and all of the choir boys and all of the prepubescent children at Bible camp that have suffered a worse fate by his hands, and by the hands of other sexually repressed Fathers who claimed that the act of having sex with these children was a form of spiritual cleansing as long as their Bible-thumping Youth Group parents never know who touched little Jimmy’s pee-pee.

 

Father Anthony went to stroke him through his briefs, but Ryo stepped back, lowly claiming that this was enough. The Father’s lust-hazed senses came back to reality and he finally agreed that he was fit to become a Nun if that was what he chose, on the condition that he had his testes surgically removed. Ryo politely declined, stating that he was “infertile at both ends,” and that removing them would not affect anything. He was almost surprised that Father Anthony did not bring up the “But Jesus said this” mumbo crap. He guessed he was lucky.

 

Ryo walked away to find Mother Ines, knowing that Father Anthony would probably spend the next hour praying for God’s forgiveness after having given into lust and temptation. He would promise never to do it again and walk back to his room with an erection under his robes, and pray some more until he felt confident enough to face Ryo again, rinse, and repeat. In time, maybe Ryo would let himself be screwed by him. Hell, he would let himself be screwed by the entire parish while laughing and spitting in God’s face if it benefitted his cause.

 

Whatever it took to get all of them off of Ryo’s back. Ryo had suffered through worse, at the hands of a being far worse.

 

Today was Ryo’s first temporary vow, of many. Brothers and Sisters-to-be lined the front pews with their heads bowed in prayer while the Priests and Nuns set up the dais, put their candles on the altar, and readied their scripture to the proper passage. Ryo sat next to Margaret and bowed his head, secretly letting his mind wander and go over his plan of action.

 

_Find Father Dante, talk to the demon, find way to contact the Devil. Find out about the string of deaths within the parish. Human sacrifices, no doubt..._

 

“Receive this crucifix, the sign of the infinite love of God for His people. Wear it with dignity. Bear such witness to it in your daily life that the very love of Jesus Christ may be visible in you.”

 

They took turns saying their vows from the Canon. Their vows primarily focused on obedience _(yeah, right)_ poverty _(oh fuck no)_ and chastity _(haha)._ Ryo exchanged his white veil for a black one which he fastened around his head and tied his cassock with the woolen card around his waist. He was given a new wooden rosary to wear low around his neck. Finally, he was given a simple ring to wear as a sign of his devotion to God.

 

 _Devotion, my ass,_ Ryo thought as he twirled it around his finger impatiently.

 

They joined in a group prayer and then a celebration in the dining hall. From now until Ryo burned the cloister down, killing everyone, or everyone else had been a part of the mysterious murders which would allow him to escape undetected, he would be living in the convent with the Sisters and Nuns.

 

He could have lived with the Brothers and Priests, but he knew that becoming one with the Sisters would help him access places usually forbidden. Sisters handle the widest variety of pastoral work and have better connections within the Church, so it was the safest bet. And men were usually more difficult to pry gossip out of, so Ryo figured that the Sisters can’t be too different from the vamps he dealt with before.

 

The new wave of Sisters, including Ryo, would be used to replace the lives lost in the previous few months. Maybe if he was lucky, someone would try to make him a sacrifice too. That would make his job a lot easier.

 

Ryo sipped at his seltzer by himself. Jenny had mentioned having to abstain from alcohol, and suddenly he wished he had smuggled a bottle of vodka under his robes, somewhere next to where he had his gun and knife strapped to his thigh.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Miki Makimura was helping Taro with his homework when their parents returned home from work. Taro complained about not understanding whatever math concept he went over in class and Miki sighed about how it had been so long since she had to manually divide a five-digit number. Akira stared at them from the living room couch, his head tilted and strained in their direction. His eyes narrowed at Miki, who didn’t even look in his direction, until she was all he could see.

 

Now that he thought about it, Miki’s name was like a tongue-twister.

 

Mr. Makimura shuffled off his shoes and greeted them fondly as usual while Mrs. Makimura tucked away her umbrella near the shoe rack. He asked what his kids were doing, and when Taro explained, he snorted with his eyes crinkling at the edges. Then he ruffled Taro’s hair while his wife lowered their dinner--leftovers from their vegetarian restaurant--onto the dining table in front of him. Mr. Makimura announced that they had gotten a large amount of tips that day and Miko said that her classmates probably had dinner there, then.

 

Akira licked his lips, his next breath hot and shallow. Try saying her name six times fast. _Miki Makimura, Miki Makimura, Miki Makimura, Miki Makimu--_

 

“Akira, come on,” Miki smiled, helping Taro clean up his school books. “It’s time for dinner.”

 

The food was reheated, and for extra measure, Mrs. Makimura made biscuits and additional greens. Zucchini spaghetti, meatballs made from eggplants, lentil burgers, black beans with feta, and something with avocado all rested in separate bowls laid across the table. Akira had generally been fine with a vegetarian lifestyle since the Makimuras began fostering him. Now, he wanted meat.

 

“Taro, will you please say a prayer?” Mr. Makimura asked as they settled into their seats. He gave Akira a wary look.

 

Taro shifted in his seat, his mouth watering at the eggplant meatballs. “But I said the prayer yesterday!”

 

“But it’s cute when you say it,” Miki giggled.

 

Taro stared hungrily at the feast before him and quickly clapped his hands together. Everyone else followed suit.

 

“Thank you God for blessing us with this food and for letting us eat together. Thank you for our health and our family and for Mom being able to cook very good. Can we eat now?”

 

The Makimuras laughed and began spooning foods onto their plates. Mr. Makimura told a story about how he recently ordained a large group of people and pointed out a few that gave him bad vibes. Akira had a headache, and suddenly he wasn’t hungry.

 

“Come on, Akira,” Mrs. Makimura said, gently nudging the lentil burgers towards his direction. “It’s important that you eat.” Her laugh lines deepened around her mouth when she smiled, and Akira found that he couldn’t turn down her offer. He thanked her for the burger while his stomach churned and he became nauseated. Mixed with his headache, he felt ill.

 

Once a considerable amount of time had passed with him nibbling on his food while the others ate till their bellies filled, Akira excused himself to the bathroom. He retched whatever made it briefly to his stomach and collapsed next to the toilet where he could see sparks flying behind his eyes. There was a pain behind them that caused his vision to blur in and out of focus. He held his hand out in front of him and tried to focus on that, though it was difficult because he was shaking so much.

 

 _I don’t feel like myself,_ he thought, flushing the toilet. He managed to stand in front of the mirror where he stared back at himself, watching sweat fall from his forehead. His thick black eyebrows furrowed, his jaw set.

 

It had been nearly a month since Akira had gotten sick. First, he had trouble holding down his food. Then he could get periodic headaches, then migraines. Then his movements gradually became disoriented. He was having more trouble on the track team, his running speed slowing dramatically. The Makimuras took him to clinics to find what was wrong, but each diagnosed him with something different, or not at all. They gave him medicine which never worked, and it seemed as if each passing day, he got worse.

 

Akira closed his brown eyes and leaned his forehead against the cool mirror. What he wouldn’t do to get better. His condition was an enigma. Perhaps it was something that just had to run its course. Or maybe it was a seasonal bug that will end with winter. Regardless, Akira needed to step up his game on the track field because he couldn’t let Miki down any longer.

 

When he opened his eyes, he saw pure white ones staring back at him. He held their gaze in shock as the mirror image skewed and slurred. His canines grew into long, sharp fangs and his nails curled into claws. He heard a high-pitched ringing in his ears as what looked like black bat wings sprung from each side his head.

 

Akira heard a knock on the door. Miki asked, “What are you doing?”

 

He looked back at his reflection, the picture of a college boy. In an act of quick thinking, he stuck one finger into his mouth. “I thought I got something stuck in my teeth, haha...”

 

Miki quirked her brow and crossed her skinny arms. “Are you sure about that? You’re acting kind of weird.”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Akira said, shuffling through the medicine cabinet and finding some floss for good measure.

 

Miki sighed and let the matter drop. She reminded him that it was his turn to take out the garbage and left. Akira pulled the string of floss out of his mouth.

 

 _Hallucinations... vivid hallucinations..._ he thought. _I need to add that to my list of symptoms once I talk to Mr. Makimura._

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

When Mr. Makimura wrapped up Sunday morning Mass, everyone was going to get brunch at the restaurant. From the middle pew, Akira watched one of the new Sisters collected the used holy water from the chalices located at each entrance. His body had trembled as it did these past few weeks when attending Mass with the Makimuras. He couldn’t bring himself to say the verses or sing the psalms from the Church’s books. Even when he dipped his hand in the holy water, he felt as if he had been burned, like a jolt of electricity passed through his body. Just being inside the Church made his knees weak, and he was starting to think _maybe this is a spiritual problem rather than a physical one._ Akira wasn’t sure Mr. Makimura would understand, given the amount of crosses and Bibles that decorated their home. If it was true Akira had spiritual problems, he didn’t want to think of all the things Mr. Makimura would do for the next year to make sure this did not happen again.

 

Miki and Taro spoke in a circle with their mother, father, and Father Anthony about the next Youth Group events. The Church had planned another retreat at some faraway mountain lodge, though Taro expressed no interest in going. Akira wondered if he could confide with Father Anthony about his problem, especially if it was spiritual in nature. But what would the rest of the Makimuras think?

 

Instead of awkwardly halting their conversation in the middle of the apse, Akira called over the Sister, who was in the middle of replacing the holy water for the next Mass. The Sister looked over at him with sharp, ice blue eyes, thin lips pressed tight in a line. Akira closed the distance between them and realized that the Sister was quite tall, taller than him. This, however, did not deter him.

 

“I need help,” Akira confessed. “I have been sick for a long time and it never goes away. At first it was just headaches, now I’m having hallucinations. I’m having mood swings where one minute I want to punch a hole into someone and the next I want to do indecent things to said hole. I went to a bunch of doctors, but none of them have been able to help. I’ve been thinking that there is a problem with my spirit, of sorts.”

 

The Sister stared at him skeptically, then poured the remaining holy water into the chalice next to them. “And what gave you that idea?” they asked Akira in a surprisingly low voice.

 

Akira gulped. “The hallucinations... I see myself in the mirror, but at the same time I’m not _myself._ I look like a _monster._ Like a _demon.”_

 

“And is this the only hallucination you see?”

 

“Yes. I think... I might be possessed with something.”

 

He saw the Sister crack a smile, followed by a scoff. One moment, the Sister had been curiously helpful, but the next, downright mocking. “You? What purpose would any demon have to possess _you?”_

 

Akira’s cheeks went red. “W-well, for your information, I have a lot going for me! I know a lot of people, I go to competitions with my track team, and I’m quite the looker!” Okay, he wasn’t too sure about that last part considering he was single, but it felt right. Instead of taking him seriously, the Sister couldn’t stop chuckling at him and Akira wanted to die.

 

“If you really want an exorcism to be performed on you, then you should speak with Father Anthony about scheduling one.”

 

 _I was hoping you could do that for me,_ Akira thought, but decided it was best not to say that out loud. The Makimuras looked like they were getting ready to leave, slowly making their way towards the door despite Father Anthony’s inability to end a conversation. Akira rejoined them after saying “thank you” and decided that he would return to the Church after Mr. and Mrs. Makimura left to tend to their restaurant.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

After the sun went down and everyone was allowed to return to their rooms, Ryo shuffled silently into the main Church building. He hadn’t had the chance to inspect the area in detail as a novice since he did not have access to a key to certain doors. He had taken an alternate route from the bathroom to his quarters, stopping at Mother Lucia’s dorm while she was having a bath. He had taken the keys from her drawer, which had been hidden under some papers and notes. Judging by that fact, Ryo concluded that she didn’t use her keys much ever since she broke her back doing some fieldwork.

 

Ryo checked everywhere, looking for clues regarding Father Dante and the missing members. Throughout his time working with the Church, he had asked about Father Dante many times, and always, _always_ got some puerile response stating that Father Dante needs time to rest and that he would join the rest of them soon. It was about time Ryo started investigating the well-kept secrets of the Church now that he held some sort of trust with the rest of them. He searched inside the tabernacle for anything locked away, then he carefully prodded the statues for hidden compartments. When he found nothing, Ryo got on his hands and knees and crawled under the altar to see what was hidden underneath. There was a lot of dusty props for Mass, but nothing of importance.

 

“Um, excuse me, what are you doing?”

 

Ryo slammed his head on the underside of the altar upon hearing the distant voice. He stumbled onto his feet and held his head between his hands.

 

“God motherfucking dammit! Goddamn shit! You fucking motherfucker shitstain! Fuck!” he howled in pain.

 

The source of the voice ran over to Ryo from the very back pews. “Are you alright?”

 

“No, I’m not goddamn alright!” Ryo spat. When he came into focus, he realized that the source of the voice was the boy from before that had claimed to be possessed. Part of him didn’t even want to believe he would come back, because honestly, what demon would want to fuse themselves with a human like him?

 

Akira mumbled a small “oh” and stared down at his hands. “You sure, um, curse a lot for a Sister,” he said.

 

“And what of it?!” Ryo snapped.

 

“N-nothing! Nothing!” Akira held his hands in front of him in a calming gesture.

 

When Ryo did calm down, he found it in himself to ask politely, “Why are you here again?”

 

“I wanted to ask Father Anthony if he would perform an exorcism on me,” Akira said, determined. “I don’t suppose you know where he is at the moment.”

 

Ryo looked at the clock near the entrance. One hour until the next Mass started. “He should be having dinner in the dining hall or preparing his sermon for the next group of people.” _Or whipping himself to avoid jacking off,_ Ryo thought, but kept it quiet.

 

Akira eyed him for a moment. “That means he’ll be here?”

 

“He usually waits in the back for a while before Mass begins. Once he comes, I’ll bring you back to him.”

 

Akira brightened with a big, dopey smile that was much too puppy-like for Ryo’s taste. “Thank you so much, Sister!”

 

Ryo sighed. With Akira’s presence, he could do no more snooping. Perhaps another day.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Father Anthony agreed.

 

According to him and the testimony that Akira gave, the demon was in the middle of growing inside of him. Demons target the weak points in defences put up by members of the religious community to destroy the community from the inside. Akira might have forgotten to pray or had blasphemed a few times too many, letting a demon plant a seed inside of his soul. That seed was now taking fruition, spreading its thorns and poison throughout his soul until he becomes more and more corrupt.

 

Ryo still wasn’t too sure, but he asked Father Anthony if he could be a witness to it. Father Anthony nodded his head, stating that because they caught the demon early, the exorcism should not last more than fifteen minutes. He asked Akira if his parents knew. Akira shook his head, saying that he would be embarrassed by Mr. Makimura if he was found out and wanted to keep it a secret for now. Father Anthony understood and lead him and Ryo to the back after Mass had finished.

 

Akira and Father Anthony sat at opposite sides of a table with a Bible, a bowl of holy water, and some crosses between them. Ryo stood off to the side next to Father Anthony, the room’s candles casting a dark shadow behind him. He ordered Akira to sit still and began reading from the Bible. In the middle of his passage, he started making hand movements to cast the demon away which Ryo was almost certain was just for show.

 

Father Anthony ordered Ryo to hold a rosary in front of Akira. The cross on the rosary swung back and forth like a pendulum and Akira followed it with wide eyes. The beads were a plain black color and the cross was carved out of a sealed wood. He could see the miniature Jesus wailing, face contorted in pain and despair, while nailed to the cross. He suffered so much pain and yet here Akira was, desecrating his legacy by getting possessed.

 

Father Anthony made a sign of the cross with his hands and Ryo followed his actions. Then, he dipped his fingers into the holy water and flicked it at Akira. That is when Akira began to shift. First it was a low growl, barely noticeable behind Father Anthony’s gruff voice. Ryo glanced at Akira who gripped the edges of the table until his knuckles turned white, beads of sweat forming around his tan skin.

 

 _Interesting,_ Ryo thought with a coy smirk. _Perhaps he was onto something after all._

 

Akira trembled, visibly struggling to breathe. It was as if whatever raging hellfire that consumed him was too much for him. Father Anthony continued flicking holy water in his direction, cleansing him, purifying him, putting out the hellfire. Ryo watched, amused, though he took a couple steps back as Akira’s breathing became more intense.

 

“The power of Christ banishes thee. Leave this body from whence you came and never return!”

 

Akira’s inhuman growls and snarls increased in volume, his teeth snapping at the air around him, though his grip on the table held him in place.

 

“The power of Christ banishes thee. Leave this body from whence you came and never return!”

 

Lifting himself from his chair, Akira screeched something in another language. The skin of his face and neck had gone red and his eyes had rolled up towards the back of his head. Ryo backed to a wall, amazed at this turn of events. As Father Anthony’s words became frantic, Ryo slowly lowered his cross.

 

“The power of Christ banishes thee. Leave this body from whence you ca--”

 

In one swift movement, the demon threw the crosses and the Bible and the holy water to the ground and bounded towards Father Anthony like a rabid animal. With his inhuman strength, he punched and beat the man into his chair, then the floor. He felt the satisfying crunch of bone under his fists as Father Anthony’s skull capsized. He gnashed his teeth, biting into old skin and tearing through until he was met with bone. Hot, wet spews of crimson blood shot out of Father Anthony’s jugular, coating the chair, the rug, and the Bible. The demon tore into his abdomen and let the Father’s intestines spill out like noodles. The demon threw the body to the table again to make sure every single bone in his body was broken, spreading his blood across each corner of the small room. Ryo flinched when some of it landed on his face, but it did not tear the ever present, wicked smile on his face.

 

“Demon!” Ryo called from the far corner of the room. The demon looked as if he was almost finished with Father Anthony, but judging by the feral look in his white eyes, Ryo might be his next target. Still, his fear far outweighed his feeling of pure, unadulterated _thrill._ “What is your name?!”

 

The demon roared with triumph. It was animalistic and wild and everything Ryo had hoped. It locked eyes on him and Ryo kept his hand at the small slit he made in his cassock which would allow him access to his gun if necessary. Then it smiled just a bit, revealing its blood-stained fangs.

 

 **“Amon,”** it said. **“I am Amon.”**

 

“Amon, it is with great reverence that I speak to you and your ilk,” Ryo said, bowing his head. “As someone who no longer basks in the light of God’s grace, I humbly ask that you answer some of my questions.”

 

But it was too late. On the floor, Akira’s eyes regained their focus on reality. He blinked a few times, his features resembling that of a college boy again. He stared down at his blood-soaked hands, then gradually scanned the room around him with an ever growing horrified expression. Then his eyes landed on the corpse of Father Anthony and he nearly screamed.

 

“W-what... happened...?” he whimpered.

 

Ryo fell to his knees in front of Akira and clasped his hands over his shoulders. “Something amazing happened!” he boasted, shaking Akira’s shoulders. _“You’re_ amazing because _you_ did all of this!” He laughed a wretched laugh, probably because the sight of so much blood had given him a temporary high.

 

But Akira only trembled. “I... did all of this...?” he murmured in disbelief.

 

“Of course! Who else?!” Ryo shook Akira’s shoulders harder as if that was what it took to make him understand just how _important_ his actions were. “Now, I just need you to revert back into your demon state. Revert back to Amon so I can ask him my questions.”

 

“I... I d-didn’t mean to kill anyone...” Akira sobbed, tears prickling at his eyes. “W-why did I do that?”

 

“It was Amon’s doing for sure.” Ryo was beginning to get impatient. “Please, I need to talk to Amon.”

 

“Someone died... and all of this _blood,”_ Akira remarked, devastated. His first tears were beginning to fall. Could he not understand that this was something to _celebrate,_ not cry about?

 

Ryo sighed, his grip on Akira’s shoulders slackening. “What you did back there was truly a work of art,” he said. “You should be proud of yourself.”

 

“W-why would I ever be proud of something like this? He was such a good man...”

 

“You honestly believe that he was so innocent?” Ryo said through grit teeth. “Just because he was technically a holy man didn’t mean he was always true to his vows. That corpse that you tore to shreds used to belong to a child molester, unregistered. I have witnessed many pastoral members turn their backs to God in a moment of poor judgement, and when they are done, they ask for forgiveness and repeat the same ungodly actions.”

 

Akira gulped. “But not everyone here is like that! I’m sure of it!”

 

“Listen to me,” Ryo said. “God abandoned us a long time ago. He lost all faith in us humans. It doesn’t matter how much you pray, He will never hear you. That is why bad things happen to good people and why people die when they are far too young. It doesn’t matter how much you blaspheme or spit at him, He. Will. Not. Hear. You.”

 

“Y-you...” But Akira could no longer put up a fight. He wailed and keened, tears cascading down his bloody cheeks like rivers. He pulled Ryo close and buried his head into his neck, letting his tears wet the black cassock.

 

Ryo flinched. Did this boy not understand the sheer importance of what he did? Why wasn’t he happy? Ryo sighed and slowly wrapped his arms around Akira, rubbing his back and shushing him like an infant, murmuring into his ear that everything was alright.

 

When Akira pulled back he wiped away the remaining snot from his upper lip. He surveyed the room again, his stomach churning when his eyes landed on the broken and mangled carcass of Father Anthony. “... What do we do now?” he asked in a hushed voice. “I-I can’t go to prison for murder. I have a track meet next weekend.”

 

Ryo clicked his tongue, rising to his feet. “I’ll have to hack into the security footage to erase all traces of you. Then I can call Jenny to clean up. She’ll find a way to make it look like an accident or a suicide.”

 

“So I won’t go to jail?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“And you won’t say anything?”

 

“Promise,” Ryo said. Akira exhaled with relief, hugging his arms around himself. He let his eyes fall closed with the blissful feeling of getting away with something of this magnitude. “... On one condition.”

 

Akira’s eyes shot open. “What is it?”

 

Ryo jabbed his finger into Akira’s chest. “You allow me to watch over you. Amon still lives inside of you, and it’s a matter of learning how to control it before it controls you. In addition, like I said before, I have questions that only demons can answer.”

 

Akira’s eyes widened, not with fear, but with wonder. “I think I’m starting to understand,” he said. “You’re like one of those undercover demon hunters, right?”

 

Ryo looked at the bloody patches on his cassock. He was glad that his habit was almost entirely black. Perhaps he could get away with walking to the baths in broad daylight like this. He couldn’t say the same for Akira. “Of sorts, I suppose,” Ryo shrugged. “I don’t hunt demons, but I use them to collect information about Hell and other related shtick.”

 

Akira glowed with awe. “Amaaaazing...”

 

“Don’t get too excited, just a few minutes ago you thought I was crazy.”

 

“I wasn’t thinking that!”

 

“Yeah you were--oh! Do you have a cell phone on you by any chance?”

 

Akira patted his pockets and found his cell in his back pocket. “Yeah, why?”

 

“One, let me call Jenny before we get carried away. Two, I need your number.”

 

Akira handed him his phone and Ryo quickly dialed a number. “Aren’t you allowed to have a phone?”

 

“Too risky. I’ve been using the pay phone across the street.” When the person named Jenny picked up, Ryo quickly mumbled his directions and ended the call before Jenny could speak. Then he found his phone information and made a mental note of Akira’s number. He handed the phone back.

 

“So, why do you need my number?” Akira asked.

 

“To stay in touch. Jenny will bring you a fresh pair of clothes.”

 

Because neither of them wanted to be spotted,they sat against the wall and chatted in a room that smelled like death. Akira wanted so badly to leave. What if his parents came home and found out he left the house alone? He wanted to handle this himself, but he didn’t want the Makimuras to worry.

 

Twenty minutes later, a group of people walked into the room, scaring the daylights out of Akira. Ryo claimed that they were friendly and on their side. The woman named Jenny took out a vacuum-sealed bag with clothes inside and handed it to Akira. He thanked her and put them on while everyone else was preoccupied with the slowly hardening body of Father Anthony.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Akira never mentioned any of this to the Makimuras. He felt that if he had, Mr. and Mrs. Makimura would, in the very least, refuse to care for him anymore. With a craned neck over the side of the couch, he watched Taro successfully divide a five-digit number, his books spread across the dining table, while Miki cheered him on. Soon, Mr. and Mrs. Makimura would return with a vegetarian dinner already prepared, and he would be expected to carry on a conversation as if nothing happened.

 

The guilt of his secret would eat him alive. But at least he had someone to confide in.

 

Late at night, he received a call from an unknown number. Thinking back to what Ryo said about the pay phone, Akira picked up.

 

“Meet me tomorrow evening at six. I have something I want to do.” Before Akira could speak back, Ryo had hung up, probably to avoid staying at the phone for too long. Akira scoffed at the “call ended” on his phone screen and considered throwing it to the side of his bed before his phone began vibrating again from the same number.

 

“And bring booze.”

**Author's Note:**

> I literally just wrote this to imagine Ryo in religious garments and it went downhill from there. Not too sure what I could add in terms of plot, so I might just leave it here. Let me know what you guys think, if I should continue this or not.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


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